JP2007166407A - System and method for sharing television broadcast receiving means, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system which enables users using client terminals to use tuner devices of other users on a network, by managing information on the tuner devices of the client terminals on the side of a server. <P>SOLUTION: The system is composed of a plurality of program-data storable terminal devices with a tuner function connected to the network, a server device for managing the terminal devices, and the network for connecting those. Based on a request from a user using a terminal device, the management server directs the other terminal devices to make reservations for program-data transmission, and terminal devices which accept the reservations distribute program data in real time via the network to the terminal device of the user making the request. The terminal device on the side of the user making the request for video recording receives and stores the program data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a television broadcast receiving means sharing system for sharing a television program receiving means owned by each other among a plurality of users.

  Conventionally, there are the following related to sharing of AV devices and program recording files on a network.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-298368, all AV devices are connected to a bus, which is disclosed as an AV control system, and AV data and control data are exchanged via the bus, and communication is performed between the bus and a portable terminal. At the same time as controlling all AV devices from the portable terminal, the AV device transfers video and audio information to the portable terminal. There is a portable terminal that reproduces the video and audio signals, can control all AV devices using the portable terminal at any position inside and outside the room, and can watch AV.

  Also, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-56352 as a video file server and a recording control apparatus in which a plurality of recording apparatuses are distributed on a network and shared by a plurality of users.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-284166 discloses an electronic device system, a function sharing method of an electronic device, an electronic device, and an electronic device. This patent also discloses that a function is blocked and connected via a power line so that the function of one AV device can be executed in another AV device, and the function is shared.
JP 7-298368 A JP-A-8-56352 JP 2003-284166 A

  However, the conventional technology aims to share a program file on a network or share an AV device owned by an individual.

  In JP-A-7-298368, remote operation and remote viewing are realized by operating AV equipment owned by itself from a very short distance and receiving AV data. There is no mention of sharing AV equipment owned by others.

  In JP-A-8-56352, a plurality of recording devices can be distributed on a network so that a user can freely arrange and share recording devices. Share.

  In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-284166, functions of AV devices are blocked so that they can be used by other AV devices, and are limited to AV devices managed by themselves.

  In order to solve such problems, the present invention manages users grouped by a server on a network, shares each other's television broadcast receiving devices, and transmits and receives broadcast data in real time, thereby enabling television between users. Allows sharing of broadcast receiving means.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a television broadcast receiving unit on the network to a user who wants to use the television broadcast receiving unit based on the availability information of the television broadcast receiving unit managed by the system.

In order to solve this problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a television broadcast receiving means sharing system comprising a plurality of terminal devices, a server device that manages these terminal devices, and a network that connects the terminal devices and the server device. In the system,
The server device
Means for accepting a program reservation from the user via the terminal device;
Means for transmitting the received program reservation information to another terminal device,
The terminal device
Means for receiving television broadcasts;
Means for transmitting the program data of the television broadcast received by the means for receiving the television broadcast to another terminal device;
Means for receiving the program data transmitted via the network by the transmission means;
Means for storing the program data received by the receiving means in a storage device;
And a means for determining a destination terminal device based on program reservation information transmitted via the server device when transmitting the TV broadcast program data to another terminal device.

The invention according to claim 2 is the television broadcast receiving means sharing system according to claim 1,
Means for storing an installation location of the terminal device;
When receiving a program reservation request from a terminal device, the terminal device has a means for requesting program recording to a terminal device having installation location information that matches the installation location information of the reservation source terminal device.

  According to the present invention, when users grouped on a network share each other's television broadcast receiving devices and send and receive program data in real time, there are programs that want to be recorded in the same time zone, A plurality of recording means (tuners) are not required, and a plurality of programs in the same time zone can be recorded by using other users' tuners even if the number of tuners is insufficient.

  Further, even if a tuner is not provided, a program can be recorded by using another user's tuner.

  Further, by sharing the tuner itself and transmitting / receiving data, there is an effect that the hard disk capacity possessed by the user lending the tuner is not compressed because the program data file is not left on the user lending the tuner.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a television broadcast receiving means sharing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, terminal devices 101, 102, and 103 are configured by terminal devices 104, 106, and 108 that have a communication function therein and are connected to a network 111 represented by the Internet and the like, and television tuners 105, 107, and 109. Is done. The terminal devices 104, 106, and 108 are constituted by a personal computer (PC), and operate by a program for a television broadcast receiving means sharing system terminal device. Four or more terminal devices may be connected. Similarly, the server device 110 has a communication function therein and is connected to the network 111. The server device 110 is constituted by a server computer and operates by a TV broadcast receiving means sharing system server device program. In the present embodiment, the TV broadcast receiving means sharing system terminal apparatus will be described with the configuration of the PC and the tuner apparatus, but an integrated dedicated apparatus may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the server device 110. As described above, the server device 110 is constituted by a server computer and operates according to program data for a television broadcast receiving means shared system server device. Specifically, a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an internal storage device 204, an external storage device 205, a network I / F 206, an input device I / F 207, a display I / F 208, a keyboard 209, a mouse 210, a display 211, and a bus 212 are provided. Connected to the network 111.

  The CPU 201 performs processing instructed by the program data for the television broadcast receiving means sharing system server device in addition to the control of the entire server computer.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 202 is a read-only memory. The ROM 202 includes a PROM (Programmable ROM) in which a user can electrically write a program and a mask ROM in which contents are written at the time of manufacture. However, any ROM may be used in this embodiment.

  A RAM (Random Access Memory) 203 is a memory that can be freely written and read. The RAM 203 has a function of temporarily storing data when performing the processing of the present embodiment.

  The internal storage device 204 is a device for storing information in the server device. An example of the internal storage device is a hard disk. The internal storage device 204 stores the TV broadcast receiving means shared system server device program, and also stores data necessary for the operation of the TV broadcast receiving means shared system server device program data and terminal database information.

  The external storage device 205 reads and writes information on a medium separate from the server device. Examples of the external storage device 205 include an FD drive, an MO drive, a CD-RW, and a DVD-RW drive.

  The network interface 206 processes communication control for connecting to the network 111. Normally, the server device 110 is installed in a NOC (Network Operation Center) of an Internet service provider close to the Internet backbone network. Therefore, the server device 110 includes a high-speed Ethernet interface for connecting to a NOC router as a communication interface.

  The input device I / F 207 processes input from the keyboard 209, mouse 210, etc. of the server apparatus 110, and is used for the operation of the server apparatus. There is no.

  The display I / F 208 and the display 211 are display units, and are configured by a CRT or liquid crystal display and its control circuit. Although the operation status of the server device is displayed on a part of the CRT or the liquid crystal display, there is no problem in the operation of the TV broadcast receiving means sharing system even without it.

  The system bus 212 exchanges various data between the blocks in the server device and supplies power. The system bus 212 includes address lines, data lines, control lines, power / ground lines, and the like.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the terminal devices 101, 102, and 103 in the present embodiment.

  The PCs 104, 106, and 108 constituting the terminal device are connected to the tuner devices 105, 107, and 109 via a USB I / F or the like, and the tuner device 105 is connected to the television transmitting / receiving antenna 307.

  A personal computer main body 301 is a main component device of the PC constituting the terminal device. In addition, the display 304, the keyboard 303, the mouse 302, the speaker 306, and the like are connected to input / output terminals corresponding to the devices provided in the personal computer main body 301, respectively.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the PC main body 301 of the personal computer 104 used as a television broadcast receiving means sharing system terminal device.

  The PC main body 301 is operated by a TV broadcast receiving means sharing system terminal device program. Specifically, CPU 401, ROM 402, RAM 403, internal storage device 404, external storage device 405, network I / F 406, input device I / F 407, display I / F 408, audio input / output I / F 409, tuner device I / F 410, A keyboard 303, a mouse 302, a display 304, a speaker 306, a tuner device 105, an antenna 307, and a system bus 411 are provided and connected to the network 111.

  In addition to the control of the entire personal computer, the CPU 401 performs processing instructed by the program data for the television broadcast receiving means sharing system terminal device.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 402 is a read-only memory. The ROM 402 includes a PROM (Programmable ROM) in which a user can write a program electrically and a mask ROM in which contents are written at the time of manufacture. However, any ROM may be used in this embodiment.

  A RAM (Random Access Memory) 403 is a memory that can be freely written and read. The RAM 403 has a function of temporarily storing data when performing the processing of the present embodiment.

  The internal storage device 404 is a device for storing information in the terminal device. An example of the internal storage device is a hard disk. 404 stores program data for the television broadcast receiving means shared system terminal apparatus, and stores data and program data necessary for the operation of the program data for the television broadcast receiving means shared system terminal apparatus.

  The external storage device 405 reads and writes information on a medium separate from the terminal device. Examples of the external storage device 405 include an FD drive, an MO drive, a CD-RW drive, and a DVD-RW drive.

  The network interface 406 processes communication control for connecting to a network such as the Internet or an intranet. Various communication interfaces are applied according to the user environment. When connecting directly to the access network, it is composed of various modems and terminal adapters, and when connecting to an ADSL modem or cable modem of an external device, it is composed of an Ethernet interface.

  The input device I / F 407 processes input from the keyboard 303 and the mouse 302 provided in the terminal device 102, and is used for operating the terminal device.

  A display I / F 408 and a display 304 are display units, and include a CRT, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, a surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), a front projector or a rear projection television, and a control circuit thereof. The operation status of the terminal device is displayed on a part of the display device.

  The audio input / output device I / F 410 processes output to the audio output device 306 such as a speaker provided in the terminal device, and is used when program data is reproduced in the terminal device.

  The system bus 411 exchanges various data between blocks in the terminal device and supplies power. The bus 411 includes an address line, a data line, a control line, a power supply / ground line, and the like.

  FIG. 5 is a part of the user information table stored in the server apparatus 110 of FIG. 1, and describes only the parts necessary for the description of the present embodiment. In the figure, an ID of F501 is a unique ID for identifying a user, and F502 represents a user name. F503 represents the user's residence area information, that is, the area information where the terminal is installed. F504 is the IP address information of the terminal owned by the user.

  FIG. 6 is a part of the program data reserved information table stored in each of the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 of FIG. 1, and only the necessary part is described in the description of this embodiment. In the figure, the ID of F601 is a unique ID for identifying the reservation, and F602 represents the recording start time. F603 represents the recording end time. F604 represents a reserved channel name. F605 is a reserved program name. F606 is request source information, the reservation from the user of the terminal is expressed as “local”, and the reservation from another terminal is set with the IP address information of the other terminal.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a flowchart showing the operation of the reservation accepting operation of the terminal device 101 in the television broadcast receiving means sharing system of this embodiment.

  First, when the process starts in step S701, the process proceeds to step S702.

  In step S702, a program reservation instruction is received from the user by an instruction from the keyboard of the input device 303 or the mouse of 302, and the process proceeds to step S703.

  If it is determined in step S703 that the tuner device 105 connected to the terminal device is present, the process proceeds to step S704.

  In step S704, the program reservation information stored in the internal storage device 404 or the like shown in FIG. 6 is read into the RAM 403, the program reservation instruction information received in S702 is compared with the information already reserved, and the same time If there is a reservation in the band, the process proceeds to step S705.

  In step S705, the terminal apparatus 101 transmits a program data distribution request to the server apparatus 110 via the network 111, and the process proceeds to S707 and ends.

  If it is determined in step S703 that the terminal device does not have a tuner device, the process advances to step S705.

  In step S704, if there is no reservation in the same time zone, the process proceeds to S706. In S706, the reservation request information is written in the program data reserved information of the terminal shown in FIG. 6, and the process proceeds to S707.

  The above is the reservation acceptance operation of the terminal device 101.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart showing the program data reservation acceptance operation of the server apparatus 110 in the television broadcast receiving means sharing system of this embodiment.

  First, when starting in step S801, the process proceeds to step S802.

  In step S802, it is determined whether there is a new program data transmission reservation request from the terminal devices 101, 102, 103. If there is a request, the process proceeds to step S803.

  In step S803, the user management table of FIG. 5 is searched from the user name of the client who has requested the program data transmission reservation, the user residence information and the IP address are extracted from the corresponding user record, and the process proceeds to step S804.

  In step S804, the user management table of FIG. 5 is searched, and all user information having residence information that matches the user residence information extracted in step S803 is extracted, and the process proceeds to step S805.

  In step S805, information for one user is extracted from the user information extracted in step S804, and the process proceeds to step S806.

  In step S806, a request for program data transmission processing is made to the extracted user terminal device via the network 111, and the process proceeds to step S807.

  In step S807, when a transmission request acceptance OK is received from the requesting user's terminal device, the process proceeds to step S808.

  In step S808, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to complete the operation from the user. If there is an end instruction, the process proceeds to step S810 and ends.

  If there is no program data transmission reservation request in step S802, the process proceeds to step S808.

  In step S807, when a transmission request acceptance NG is received from the requesting user's terminal device, the process proceeds to step S809.

  If it is not determined in step S809 whether there is next user information, the process advances to step S808.

  In step S808, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to end the operation from the user. If there is no instruction, the process proceeds to step S802.

  In step S809, the presence / absence of the next user information is determined, and if there is, the process proceeds to step S805.

  The above is the reservation acceptance operation of the server apparatus 110.

  FIG. 9 is an example of a flowchart showing an operation of accepting a program data transmission request from another terminal device through the server device 110 of the terminal device 101 in the television broadcast receiving means sharing system of the present embodiment.

  First, when starting in step S901, the process proceeds to step S902.

  In step S902, the server apparatus 110 is connected, and the process proceeds to step S903.

  In step S903, it is determined whether there is a program data transmission reservation request from the server apparatus 110, and if there is, the process proceeds to step S904.

  In step S904, it is determined whether or not there is reservation data, that is, a program reservation from the local user or a program data transmission reservation from another user on the network in the same time zone, and if not, the process proceeds to step S905.

  In step S905, the program data transmission request is accepted, the program data transmission reservation data is created, and the reservation data is registered in the own terminal, and the process proceeds to step S906.

  In step S906, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to end the operation from the user. If there is an end instruction, the process proceeds to step S908 and ends.

  In step S903, if there is no program data transmission reservation request from the server apparatus 110, the process proceeds to step S906.

  In step S904, if there is already reservation data in the same time zone, that is, if there is a program reservation from a local user or a program data transmission reservation from another user on the network, the process proceeds to S907.

  In step S907, the server is notified of the rejection of the program data transmission reservation request, and the process proceeds to S906.

  In step S906, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to end the operation from the user, and if there is not, the process proceeds to step S903.

  The above is the operation of accepting a program data transmission request from another terminal device of the terminal device 101.

  FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart showing an operation of transmitting program data to the other terminal device of the terminal device 101 in the television broadcast receiving means sharing system of the present embodiment.

  First, when starting in step S1001, the process proceeds to step S1002.

  In step S1002, the current time information is acquired, and the process proceeds to step S1003.

  In step S1003, a plurality of program data transmission requests and program recording reservation data stored in the internal storage device 404 of the terminal apparatus 101 are acquired, and the process proceeds to step S1004.

  In step S1004, the recording start time F602 of the plurality of reservation data acquired in step S1004 is compared with the current time acquired in step S1003, and if there is reservation data having a reserved time, the process proceeds to step S1005. .

  In step S1005, it is determined from the request source information in F606 of the reservation data that is the reservation start time whether the reservation is from a local user or a request from another terminal on the network, and if the reservation is a local user, the process proceeds to S1006. .

  In step S1006, the program data instructed for reservation is recorded, the recorded data is stored in the internal storage device 404, and the process proceeds to S1007.

  In step S1007, it is determined whether there is an instruction to end the operation from the user. If there is an end instruction, the process proceeds to step S1009 and ends.

  If no ID and password are received in step S1003, the process proceeds to step S1003.

  If it is not the reservation time in step S1004, the process proceeds to step S1007.

  In step S1005, it is determined whether or not the reservation data at the reservation start time is a program recording reservation in the own terminal. If not, the process proceeds to step S1008.

  In step S1008, the instructed program data is transmitted to the instructed PC, that is, the IP address described in the reservation data of the program data transmission request, and the process proceeds to S1007.

  In step S1007, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to end the operation from the user, and if there is not, the process proceeds to step S1002.

  The above is the operation of transmitting the program data to the other terminal device of the terminal device 101.

  FIG. 11 is an example of a flowchart showing an operation of receiving program data from another terminal device of the terminal device 101 in the television broadcast receiving means sharing system of this embodiment.

  First, when starting in step S1101, the process proceeds to step S1102.

  In step S1102, the presence / absence of a connection from another terminal apparatus is determined. If there is, the process proceeds to step S1103.

  In step S1103, program data from another terminal device is received, and the process proceeds to S1004.

  In step S1104, the received program data is stored in the internal storage device 404, and the process proceeds to step S1105.

  In step S1105, it is determined whether there is an instruction to end the operation from the user. If there is an end instruction, the process proceeds to step S1106 and ends.

  In step S1102, the presence / absence of a connection from another terminal device is determined. If not, the process proceeds to step S1105.

  If it is determined in step S1105 that the user does not give an instruction to end the operation, the process advances to step S1102.

  The above is the operation of receiving program data from another terminal device of the terminal device 101.

The system block diagram in this Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the server apparatus 110 in this Embodiment. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the terminal device 104 in this Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the PC main body 301 which comprises the terminal device 104 in this Embodiment. The figure which shows the user information table in this Embodiment. The figure which shows the program reservation information table in this Embodiment. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the video recording reservation reception operation of the terminal device 101 in this Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement by the side of a conference server in the case of notifying ID and password information of the imaging device in this Embodiment to another conference terminal. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement by the side of a conference terminal in the case of notifying only the server apparatus of ID and password information of the imaging device in this Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement by the side of a conference server in the case of notifying ID and password information of the imaging device in this Embodiment only to a server apparatus. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement by the side of a conference terminal when not telling ID and password information of the imaging device in this Embodiment elsewhere.

Explanation of symbols

101, 102, 103 Terminal device 104, 106, 108 Personal computer 105, 107, 109 Tuner device 110 Server device 111 Network 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 Internal storage device 205 External storage device 206 Network I / F
207 Input device I / F
208 Display I / F
209 Keyboard 210 Mouse 211 Display 301 PC body 302 Mouse 303 Keyboard 304 Display 306 Speaker 307 Antenna 401 CPU
402 ROM
403 RAM
404 Internal storage device 405 External storage device 406 Network I / F
407 Input device I / F
408 Display I / F
409 Voice input / output I / F
410 Tuner I / F

Claims (6)

In a television broadcast receiving means sharing system composed of a plurality of terminal devices, a server device that manages those terminal devices, and a network that connects the terminal devices and the server device,
The server device
Means for accepting a program reservation from the user via the terminal device;
Means for transmitting the received program reservation information to another terminal device,
The terminal device
Means for receiving television broadcasts;
Means for transmitting the program data of the television broadcast received by the means for receiving the television broadcast to another terminal device;
Means for receiving the program data transmitted via the network by the transmission means;
Means for storing the program data received by the receiving means in a storage device;
Means for determining a transmission destination terminal device based on program reservation information transmitted via the server device when transmitting the television broadcast program data to another terminal device. Reception means sharing system. The television broadcast receiving means sharing system according to claim 1,
Means for storing an installation location of the terminal device;
Means for receiving a program reservation request from a terminal device, and receiving a program recording request to a terminal device having installation location information that matches the installation location information of the reservation source terminal device. Shared system. In a television broadcast receiving means sharing method in a television broadcast receiving means sharing system composed of a plurality of terminal devices, a server device that manages those terminal devices, and a network that connects the terminal devices and the server device,
The server device
Receiving a program reservation from the user via the terminal device;
A step of transmitting the received program reservation information to another terminal device,
The terminal device
Receiving a television broadcast;
Transmitting the television broadcast program data received by the step of receiving the television broadcast to another terminal device;
Receiving the program data transmitted through the network in the transmitting step;
Storing the program data received in the receiving step in a storage device;
And a step of determining a transmission destination terminal device based on program reservation information transmitted via the server device when transmitting the television broadcast program data to another terminal device. Reception means sharing method. In the television broadcast receiving means sharing method according to claim 3,
Storing an installation location of the terminal device;
TV broadcast receiving means sharing, comprising: a step of requesting program recording to a terminal device having installation location information that matches the installation location information of the reservation source terminal device when a program reservation request is received from the terminal device Method.   The program for making a computer implement | achieve the television broadcast receiving means sharing method in any one of Claim 3 or Claim 4.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 5.

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